Chris and Jenny's Adventure

Two posts in one go...you must be kidding!! But oh no, it's true!!

But this is perhaps the most important post of all...and sadly the one with least photos to it's name on my harddrive. And I have to accredit them all to Jenny and her camera!! I didn't take the Nikon with me on our camping trek into the jungle due to the many river crossings, much much rain, and lack of suitable protective case for the poor camera. So this time I was relying on Jenny all the way!!

The walk started off along much the same path as our first walk when we arrived. It then veered off, and after about 2 hours of walking we took our buko pitstop near another waterfall, which involves the boys harvesting coconuts from up the trees and cutting them open with their machetes for us to drink the juice and eat the meat. When we were told these were the last coconut palms of the walk we took advantage of the stop...and got close to the locals...



Once we moved on the view became more and more spectacular as we climbed...



Before we knew it, but after strenuous walking no less, it was time for lunch. This time it was courtesy of the boys fire-building skills...oh yes...and the legacy of the rice began here!!



Little did we know that rice would be our meal...breakfast, lunch and dinner...for the full 3 days!!

After walking for another hour and a half or so we reached our first campsite. Now I have to thank Lisa for these contributions to the photographic memories...the first order was to "shower" in the river next to the campsite to prevent us getting too cold from having sweat so much during the day. Although, the river was freezing so the benefits weren't immediate!!



The hammocks we slept in were plain black material strung along tree trunks that the boys felled and hung a tarps over to keep the rain off. Dinner was more rice and some shrimp caught along the river next to the camp site and then some warm coffee and great conversation was had before the sun went down to reveal a performance of fireflies (if only we could've photographed those!)



The morning presented many interesting moments. Breakfast consisted of Christine's first frog's legs that were caught and roasted the previous night (to accompany the rice of course) and Jenny's first cup of coffee (that she actually enjoyed!!). The next interesting moment was a challenge to climb up the final ascent of the mountain. It started at an extremely steep angle right by the campsite (and right after breakfast!!). It took us between one and two hours to reach the top of the incline and then a little more to finally reach the rockslide...one of our overall destinations!! It was such a relief to reach the slide and, as we'd come to expect by this stage, the scenery didn't disappoint...



After a considerable downpour of rain (which left Christine shivering uncontrolably!) and lunch (which was rice...again!!!) we headed to our other destination. Well...we stopped for wildlife along the way...especially when it was purple!!!



Or when it was so well camouflaged that we had to take a picture to prove we found it



But the main attraction was the Rafflesia lobata flowers that are the main research focus of the conservation foundation at the moment. When we saw them they were all in bud (due to flower within weeks) so we are still missing "the" photo. The photos we do have are not the greatest due to the low light levels under the canopy...but the buds are still visible.





Then it was already time to pitch camp for our second night. By this time we already had cabin fever (and no doubt some form of rice poisoning ) which led to us being silly while we waited. Much singing happened and then we crowned Lisa chief of the camp!!



The next day was entirely back downhill to the house. Sticks were fashioned to help with the walk and off we went. The view continued to be breath-taking in the sun...



...but that meant that once we broke free of the canopy we had to make even more frequent stops for shade and water!!



Even Carabao need to escape the searing heat!!



And on our last rest of the walk we had a "we were there!!" moment...(the large rockslide just right of centre is the one I mentioned we stopped at)



We then reached the house again and made ourselves feel human with a nice (albeit cold) shower!! Little did we know the day still had more in store for us. After showering we were told that a turtle had been caught in the fishing nets that evening and they were keeping it for us to see. So off we went to the beach and watched as they released the turtle. It was the perfect end to the day!!

Again, later than advertised. You'd be surprised how hard it is to take the time to load photos when there is so much else to organise!!

Jenny and I are back at her house in Wales as I'm writing this. I return to Germany tomorrow. But I will continue to update so you can eventually see all the photos from our trip. Well, the good selection that tell the story at least.

We are now up to our second day on Panay Island. Already settled in somewhat, we decide to all go for our first small trip into the jungle.

After only about 15 minutes of walking we start to get a better feel for the jungle and what it will eventually have in store for us. It's breath-taking...



River-crossing seems to be an essential part of jungle walking...if you're afraid of getting wet don't go!! We found it wonderful fun, especially when we just wanted to keep seeing more and more of what was out there...



And sometimes it was fun to share the rivers with the locals...



Although, mostly they also prefer to stay on dry land!!



As do these wonderful creatures!! Some of us had the fun experience of being bitten by several different ant species throughout the trip, and these leaf-ball homes were quite frequently seen in the lower jungle areas. Needless to say the photos were taken from a distance!!



The target of the entire walk was this beautiful waterfall. In reality it only took about 2 to 2 and a half hours to reach and it was well worth it!!



Some decided to take a refreshing dip (Locretto, one of our guides or "boys")...



While others just sat back and admired the view...



Little did we know the view was only going to get better!! The next day we headed out on the new PSDCF Research Boat for a trip up the Bugong River. This required a short sea trip to enter at the mouth of the river and then about a 45 minute or so trip up the river.



Sometimes the river was too shallow and the boat wouldn't run over the riverbed with our weight in it so we had to get out and push...or in Renee's case...pull!!



But, as always, the effort was worth it for the beauty and wildlife along the way!!





And the trip home at dusk gave a wonderful end to the day

And so we arrive in Manila.

I think to start with Jenny was a little culture shocked...although not as much as I expected. Manila is a very busy, noisy, dirty city where white people are stared at with no shame. This is mostly due to the Filipinos believing that the whiter you are the more beautiful you are...to the degree that skin whitening products are widely available in everyday items such as soaps and shower products.

From arriving at the airport we finally arrived at Lavina's house at around 2am. We had a quick snack (we hadn't eaten properly due to the flight out of Hong Kong being considerably delayed) and talked for a while before crashing.

We have to ashamedly admit that we slept till almost 11 the next morning due to our messed up body clocks! So we just took a quick tour around of Glorietta mall to change cash (77 pounds to the peso at the time of arrival), a handicrafts bazaar at Fort Bonafacio and around Dasmarinas Village to see my old house etc.

That evening we went out for the birthday party of Lavina's friend and had a great time at a Greek restaurant and a club in Fort Bonafacio.



The next day we had planned to go to Tagaytay. But this was all changed by an email from my old ballet teacher, Lisa Macuja, who said that she would be performing in Le Corsaire at Star Theatre that afternoon. So we watched there and met with Lisa afterwards. She was excited that we were heading to Antique province in Panay as apparently that's where her family are originally from.

Lisa mentioned she was taking part in a cultural show later that evening at Lunetta park so we decided to go watch. The stage is outdoors at the edge of Lunetta, which is a park in dedication to a national hero called Rizal. The show was amazing, with all styles of cultural dance. At the end we took a walk around the park and had our photo taken in front of the Rizal monument...which drew in a small crowd..."oooo look white people posing for photo!!"



The 18th of Feb was spent in and around Makati at the malls while Lavina was at class. But the following day we got up and headed out to Brent, my old school. We caught up with old teachers, and Lavina and I got to feel very old when being asked to give a talk to the Grade 10 students entering IB next year. They were all wearing t-shirts saying batch 2010 and we had to tell them all we were batch 2002!! I think although Jenny felt a little out of place she still enjoyed it...and managed to capture our embarassing talk on video!!!! *blush*

Jenny and I outside the Atrium at Brent


From Brent we went on to Tagaytay. It's an old volcano formation where you can see the crator lake and if you want you can ride over it and walk up the mountain. On the way we stopped for a Buko drink. Freshly picked coconuts are harvested and you drink the juice directly out the coconut. Once the juice is done you cut open the coconut and eat the meat.











Unfortunately it was rainy and foggy at Tagaytay so we weren't able to see too much. So we sat down for some early dinner at an italian restaurant overlooking the crator area. It was really fun still and we decided we will try to visit again before we leave.





In this photo of the lake you can see the fishery areas roped off...



Then it was back to Lavina's for some R&R



And just a little silliness....



Next day we got up early and went to Subic. It's a few hours drive and we finally got there safely, although the car suffered minor damage from a large branch falling on us as we were driving up the hill towards Subic Bay!!

Subic was a strategic base for the Americans during WW2. Today you can still see some of the camouflaged bunkers along the road down to the bay area. Today it is still used as a jungle survival training area for anyone from school students on a camp or fresh army recruits learning the basics.

The main attraction for our trip, however, was the wildlife. I took Jenny along intentionally to find the wild monkeys and fruit bats that I'd seen there back in 2001.

The monkeys were easy to find....





The bats, on the other hand, were harder to find. Since I'd last visited with my family they had built a permanent bat information centre. So we headed straight for that...but arrived to find that the bats had decided to start moving their roost on a daily basis and our best bet was to just keep driving towards the bay.

It was a spectacular sight to drive down the road and find the bats all flying around their roost for the day, which happened to straddle the road precisely at a break in the canopy.







The camera women had much fun with the site for at least an hour....maybe more





But then it was time to say goodbye to Subic...and, in fact, Manila for a while. We had to go home and pack ready to be up really early for our exciting flight to Panay!!